Through It All
by XxsaraxmariexX
Summary: Takes place a week after the reunion. A tragedy brings everyone, including Jo back together once again in Peekskill. They all have their challenges as they figure out what's next for them in their life.
1. Chapter 1

Blair sat on her bed as Tad handed her the newly developed photos she had taken during the reunion with her old friends. It had been exactly one week since their early Thanksgiving dinner. She had the time of her life seeing everybody again. Well almost everybody. Jo's absence was felt by Blair throughout the reunion. In fact she could count on one hand the number of times she had seen Jo since she made the move with Rick to California. It wasn't like they weren't in touch, they were with the times enough to use e-mail and they chatted on the phone every now and then. But something didn't sit right with her about Jo not making it to the reunion, hell even her daughter Jamie managed to make it. She was determined to talk to Jo about it.

"Hand me my phone please. I'm going to call Jo," Blair said to Tad.

Tad could read on her face that looking at the pictures was stirring up feelings about the reunion, feelings that she had ranted to him about a few times over the past week. "Not until you tell me what your motives are. Rick told you she was busy _working_. In her line of work it's not uncommon for stuff to come up out of the blue."

"It's not just that. She didn't even bother to call after Rick and Jamie got home. Even though there were times we couldn't admit it we were and still are best friends. I just think after they arrived back home she should have called."

Tad sighed and handed her the phone. "Just don't say anything you will regret okay? You don't want to push her away from the next reunion."

Blair thought he was being silly. "Of course I'm not going to. I'm not picking a fight just trying to talk to my friend." Tad raised his hands in surrender and walked out of the room.

Blair went through her phone contacts until Jo's name came up then she hit dial.

"Hello?" Jo answered sounding groggy.

"Hi Jo. It's me Blair. Did I call you at a bad time?"

Jo looked over at her clock. "No my alarm was about to go off in fifteen minutes anyway. You just gave me an extra fifteen minutes to wake up before I have to get ready for work."

"In that case how is everything? Did Jamie have fun at the reunion?" Blair asked.

"Are you kidding? It's all she could talk about for two whole days," Jo chuckled. "But really she had a great time. It sounds like I missed out on a lot. I'm sorry I had to miss it."

"Speaking of that how is the trial going?" Blair wondered.

"It's…going. I really can't say much about it," Jo replied.

"Ah," Blair uttered. "I'm thinking we should try to do another reunion soon. Jamie and Tisha really hit it off and it'd be a shame if we let so much time pass us by again."

"That would be great. Just let me know well in advance when it is so I can try to get the time off," Jo said.

"You have to promise to be there. It was wonderful seeing Ms. Garrett, Natalie and Dorothy again but it didn't feel complete without you there," Blair pleaded.

"Blair if I'm needed I don't have a choice but to work. I can't fully promise something won't come up. Just look what happened last week," Jo replied.

"Work has clearly dominated your life but what about your friends? Do you not want to see us?" Blair asked.

"Of course I want to see you guys! I wanted to be at that reunion more than anything. I promise I will find a way to make a trip to Peekskill sometime this year to come see you," Jo promised.

"Well that's great for those of us who still live in Peekskill but what about Natalie? She's constantly traveling. Plus as of the reunion she's engaged to a man named Harper and she will be getting married soon," Blair pointed out.

"What about Natalie? She's not the one calling me busting my chops. Unlike you she seems to grasp that things come up that are out of our control," Jo was getting slightly annoyed.

"I resent that. I understand that just fine. I'm just tired of being the one who has to reach out to you only to be disappointed. How many times since you moved across the country have you reached out to me to get together?"

"If I'm disappointing you so much then stop asking! I'm a cop, a wife, a mother; my life is completely different now than it was twelve years ago! I'm sorry that I haven't been around as often as you want me to be but when I'm not working I'm either at parent/teacher conferences, or catching up on a week's worth of house work, or trying to spare an hour to spend with my husband alone without my kid in the room," Jo explained.

"Alright I'll stop. Call me whenever it suits you then," Blair hung up and threw her phone on the bed.

She walked down to the kitchen where Tad was. "I hate when you are right."

"What did you say Blair?" Tad asked.

"I said what I felt. She went on about how busy her life is and I told her to call me whenever it works out for her. I proposed to do another reunion and when she said she wasn't positive she would be there I got upset. I was probably too harsh. I just miss her and it's not the response I was hoping for. Maybe I should call back and apologize before she heads to work," Blair said.

"Well that will have to wait. Don't forget we have to be at the doctors in forty-five minutes for your physical, which I'm sure getting stressed out about Jo isn't going to help us conceive," Tad replied.

"You're right. I'm calm now. I'll call her and apologize tomorrow and everything will be back to normal."

"We should probably head out right about now," Tad looked at his watch.

"Alright I just have to go get my phone out of our room," Blair replied.

As they sat in the back of their limo on the way to the doctors Blair fiddled with her phone tempted to call and try to catch her before she left for work.

"Blair, are you happy with your current life?" Tad asked.

Blair was shocked that he asked her that. "Of course I am. Why would you ask me that?"

"Ever since Thanksgiving with the girls you've been on a nostalgia kick; pulling out old yearbooks, going through old photo albums, talking about the girls every chance you get. I understand that seeing everyone was exciting but I thought it would have died down by now."

"I didn't have a normal teenage experience. Most people go through four years of high school and four years of college and barely keep in touch with the people they went to school with again. Very few college students choose to live with their former high school dietician over living in a dorm room with other college kids. Ms. Garrett, Jo, Natalie and Dorothy were practically my family the eight years we lived together. It really didn't hit me until the reunion how much I need them and how much I don't want life to drift us apart. I guess I'm just worried another ten years will go by before all of us are in one place again," Blair explained.

"So you're happy with everything in your current life with me then?" Tad wondered.

"Marrying you was the best thing I ever did. Once we have a child my life will be complete," Blair leaned in and kissed him.

"I feel the same," he smiled.

All of a sudden a loud screech came from the tires as the limo driver slammed the brakes. He screamed loudly and fear grew on Tad and Blair's faces. A couple seconds later a car hit the right side of the limo, shattering the glass from the windows and slamming them into a tree. Suddenly everything went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

At the hospital Mrs. Garrett was already there in the waiting room with Beverly Ann by her side. Their nerves were wrecked because the hospital wouldn't tell them anything since they weren't family. Mrs. Garrett spoke with Natalie and Dorothy and left a message with Rick for Jo. Dorothy was on her way, while Natalie was working on pulling some strings to see if she could get out of Pakistan and come home.

"I just saw them last week. What if that's the last time we will ever see them?" Mrs. Garrett said softly.

Beverly Ann grabbed her hand. "It won't be. There is too much ahead for them for either of them to leave early. They haven't even gotten their kid yet."

Dorothy and her daughter Tisha rushed through the waiting room to Mrs. Garrett and Beverly Ann.

Tisha ran to hug Mrs. Garrett. "Is Aunt Blair okay?"

"Is she?" Dorothy echoed.

"They won't tell me anything since neither Blair nor Tad is my family legally. Monica's the one that called me about the accident. She's in Guatemala but Bailey's here in Peekskill and she's on her way," Mrs. Garrett answered.

"How can she still be traveling at her age? Has she not seen all there is to see by now?" Dorothy wondered.

"As long as she's in good health I don't see why she can't travel at her age. It just doesn't do anyone a bit of good right now that she's in another country and who knows where in the world her father is," Mrs. Garrett sighed. "I talked to Natalie. She's going to try to get her boss to let her leave Pakistan. As for Jo I called but she wasn't home so Rick is going to give the message to her when he can."

"Let's just pray it's not serious enough for either of them to need to come home," Dorothy hoped.

"Believe me there's been a lot of praying," Beverly Ann said.

Dorothy realized she was so wrapped up in finding out what was going on that she forgot to acknowledge Beverly Ann's presence so she walked over and gave her a hug.

"How's Andy doing? It's been too long since I last heard from that boy," Dorothy asked.

"He's doing wonderful. He's a dentist now and has a girlfriend named Madeline. They live right outside of Peekskill," Beverly Ann answered.

"Wow a dentist?" Dorothy was amazed. "For some reason I thought he'd get in the music industry finding new talent or something. I remember thanks to Andy and his crazy ideas we got to sing with El Debarge."

Beverly Ann laughed. "Or when I made you, Natalie and Blair follow him to that horrid concert."

"I still have nightmares about that," Dorothy replied.

"What about Aunt Blair?" Tisha asked.

"What?" Dorothy was confused by what she meant.

"What are some good memories with Aunt Blair? Maybe hearing some will lift our spirits up a bit," Tisha suggested.

"That's a good idea Tisha," Mrs. Garrett agreed. "I'll never forget that Christmas when Blair hosted that charity event at what she thought was an orphanage but ended up being a prison. Blair was going to cancel because she didn't want to entertain the prisoners, but the rest of us joined in and did what we could to give them a nice Christmas. We were singing Christmas carols and Blair refused to join in but at the last moment she opened her heart and went on stage and did a beautiful rendition of 'I'll Be Home for Christmas'. I remember being so proud of Blair at that moment."

Dorothy smiled. "I remember that. I'll never forget the time when we doing that project about ancestry and Blair decided to show hers through clothing. It was hilarious when the clothing from her father's company came and instead of the older clothing she was expecting she got lingerie with instructions!" Dorothy laughed thinking about it. Everyone else laughed along with her.

A blonde haired teenager approached them wearing a fur jacket, blue pair of jeans and boots.

"Excuse me, are you Mrs. Garrett?"

"You must be Bailey! This is Beverly Ann, Dorothy, or Blair might have referred to her by her nickname Tootie, and this is her daughter Tisha," Mrs. Garrett introduced.

Bailey waved shyly at everyone. "Have you heard anything about my sister and brother in law?"

"They won't tell us anything because we're not family honey. You have to be the one to talk to them," Mrs. Garrett said.

"You would think that my mother would be the one to handle this, but yet again she's across the word when she's needed and she wonders why I don't go out of my way to talk to her. Alright I'll see if I can go find out what's happening," Bailey replied. Everyone sat and waited patiently for Bailey to return. A few minutes later she returned visibly distressed.

"What's wrong? How are they?" Mrs. Garrett jumped up.

"Considering the circumstances Tad's fine. He's got a shoulder injury he'll need surgery for …but Blair..."

"What about Blair?" Dorothy shot up.

Bailey shook her head. "They declared her in a coma. They said all we can do is wait and hope for the best."

Everyone gasped and Tisha grasped onto Dorothy and started crying. Dorothy pulled her to sit and let her cry in her arms. For a few minutes nobody said anything. For Dorothy and Tisha it was just like reliving what they went through in the hospital when Jeff died all over again. The situation was eerily similar. Jeff was in a bad accident while driving during a blizzard on a highway. He was the only fatality after sustaining brain damage.

Dorothy felt her phone vibrate in her purse and looked to see who it was. "It's Jo. I'm going to take it outside. Be back in a bit."

"Jo. I'm so glad you called," Dorothy answered.

"I tried calling Mrs. Garrett back but nobody picked up. Do you know how Blair and Tad are doing?" Jo asked frantically.

"Mrs. Garrett's here with me along with Beverly Ann and Bailey. Blair's in a coma Jo," Dorothy whispered out as she started crying.

"This can't be happening! I just talked to her this morning!" Jo exclaimed. "Any word on Tad?"

"He got a shoulder injury he's going to have surgery on but he'll be fine. Jo I'm scared. I just went through this a few years ago with Jeff and you know how that turned out," Dorothy wept.

"Listen to me Tootie. I've seen so many different people survive stuff that it would take a miracle to get through alive. You just have to have faith," Jo advised.

It bugged her when people called her Tootie. Any other day she would have corrected her but at that moment she didn't care. "I'll try. It's probably pointless to say this but I really wish we were all together right now. This is the worst thing that we've ever gone through and it just sucks that we're so far apart."

"I'm coming Tootie. I'll be out on the next plane," Jo said. The words Blair said to her stuck with her. She knew Blair was right. There were instances where she had enough time off to where she could have gone to Peekskill but chose not to for different reasons. When she moved to California she figured she would have plenty of opportunities to return to Peekskill for visits but she didn't realize just how much energy that required.

"That's great Jo. Everyone will be so glad to see you. Are you bringing your family?" Dorothy asked.

"I don't think so. I know Jamie would do anything to be there for Blair but she's got school. She's already used up all her so-called sick days. If I let her miss anymore school I'm sure the school will bitch about it," Jo answered.

"That sucks. Tisha would have loved to have her here but I understand. Lucky for us we're between schools at the moment since we're transferring her to Eastland," Dorothy said.

"That's great. I'm sure she's going to love it there. Well I'm going to let you go. I need to call and figure out when the next plane out is." They said their goodbyes and hung up.

Dorothy walked back in to the hospital and sat back down with everyone.

"Jo's coming out on the next plane," Dorothy announced.

Mrs. Garrett smiled. "I'm glad she decided to come out. Are Rick and Jamie coming?"

"No she doesn't want to pull Jamie out of school. I understand. If it were the same situation with Tisha I would make the same decision," Dorothy replied.

"That's true. For some people it takes a day while others it can take years to slip out of it if they ever do. That would be a lot of school to miss," Beverly Ann said. Everyone got quiet as they were reminded of that fact.

"Well like the doctor said all we can do is wait," Bailey frowned.


	3. Chapter 3

Two days later Jo had finally arrived in Peekskill. Natalie managed to convince her boss to let her off the assignment early as long as the plane ride back came out of her pocket. She had to tell her boss there was a death in the immediate family, or else she knew there was no way she would be let off. She confided in Harper who assured the boss he could handle the assignment without Natalie. She was on her way back and was expected to arrive within a day or so.

Jo stood outside the hospital trying to work up the courage to go inside. She knew everybody would be thrilled to see her. She was just angry at herself that it took something this serious to get her back in Peekskill. She also wondered if anybody else was upset about her absence and just hasn't said anything.

It was two years after all the girls moved out when Jo and Rick decided to move to Los Angeles. The two had moved into a cheap apartment right after leaving what eventually became Beverly Ann's house. Neither of them had the income to afford something really nice so they figured a cheap apartment would be good as a starter home in the beginning stages of their marriage. Her career as a social worker was stable, but it grew to be dull and not something Jo wanted to do for the rest of her life. She really had no idea what she wanted to do. She flip flopped through different career fields throughout college but nothing she experimented with stuck. It wasn't until she had a one-on-one conversation with a police officer at a coffee shop one morning that she opened her eyes to possibly becoming a police officer. The more she looked into it the more fascinated she became with it. After going through all the training and everything she needed, Rick was offered a great job at a music studio in Los Angeles. It paid well and there wasn't really anything keeping them in Peekskill anymore so they made the move.

Jo walked into the hospital and looked around for the area to find out where Blair's room is. While looking around Beverly Ann, who was on her way out spotted her.

"Jo!" Beverly Ann called out.

Jo turned around to see who was calling her name. "Hey!" Jo waved.

Beverly Ann walked over to her and gave her a hug. "I'm so glad you made it back. How are you doing? How's your family? I heard Jamie was in town for Thanksgiving but I didn't get to see her."

Jo really wasn't in the mood to get into an in-depth conversation about herself. She knew she had a lot of catching up to do with Beverly Ann. Months have passed by since their last phone call. Now wasn't the time though. The only thing she cared about at that moment was Blair so she kept her update short and sweet. "Everything's good on my end. How's Blair doing? Has there been any update since I last talked to Tootie?"

"Nothing's changed," Beverly Ann answered. "Edna will be back shortly. Raymond insisted she get out for some fresh air so they went out for a few. Dorothy and Natalie will be here later."

"Where is Tad? Is he still admitted?" Jo asked.

"They released him this morning. He hasn't left Blair's bedside. They're in room 208," Beverly Ann replied.

"Thanks. I'm going to go in there and talk to him for a bit." Jo walked around and eventually found room 208. Just as she was told Tad had a chair pulled up by her bedside as he watched the television. She peeked her head in through the door. "Hi there."

Tad looked at her and smiled. He knew his wife would be so happy that she was there. "Hi Jo."

She looked over at Blair who looked peacefully asleep. "I wish there was a way to let her know I'm here. To let her know we are both here with her."

"Yeah. I know the last conversation between you two didn't go smoothly. You have to know though she was going to call you back and apologize immediately after the phone call ended. I was the one who stopped her because we had to get to her doctor's appointment. I'm so sorry. Maybe if I had let her take a minute to make that call the accident wouldn't have happened," Tad apologized.

"You had no way of knowing any of this was going to happen," Jo replied. She wished he did let her make that call so they could have worked it out. Blaming himself wasn't going to help anything though.

"That's what everybody keeps telling me but every minute that passes by I grow more and more afraid that she's never going to wake up. What am I going to do if she doesn't? Blair's my whole world. I can't imagine a life without her," Tad let a tear slide down his cheek.

"Neither can I," Jo said solemnly. "Would you mind if I had a minute alone with Blair?"

"Yeah that's fine. I should probably go get a refill on my coffee anyway." He left the room to give her some privacy.

Jo took a seat in Tad's chair and looked over at Blair. She had so much she needed to get off her chest.

"I know that I haven't been the best friend lately, to you or to anyone for that matter. When I left Peekskill you made me promise that nothing would change and we'd still see each other every year. You know me; I don't make promises usually that I don't keep. I only made that promise because I honestly thought I could keep it, but then once Jamie was born and I was working full time life got so demanding and it got harder and harder. I should have been here last week alongside my daughter and the rest of my friends. The truth is I wasn't working. I could have made it if I wanted to, but there's so much that I haven't told you.

I have been fighting to hold on to my marriage for a few years now. I think that the only reason I'm still with Rick is Jamie. That and I am afraid to admit that my marriage is failing after we have been together for so many years. I know that you and I have both had divorced parents and we turned out just fine, but I don't want to put her through that without trying my hardest to make it work. Rick _insisted_ on coming along to New York with us. He had work stuff he wanted to do in New York. We had just had another fight the night before we were getting ready to head out. I couldn't bear the thought of spending all those hours traveling beside him, having to pretend I wasn't upset about the fight for Jamie's sake. The idea of having the house to myself without having to put up with him for a few days was too great to resist. He agreed to lie for me and that was that."

Jo took Blair's hand and allowed herself to cry. "You have to wake up Blair. I need you to wake up. After all we've been through over the years it can't end this way. You have to give me the chance to make up for lost time. I'm here now and I promise if you wake up I'll never so much time between visits pass again, and this time I'll keep my promise."

A few seconds later Mrs. Garrett walked in. She had seen Jo through the window. "It looked like what you were saying to Blair was important so I figured I would wait until you were done. You were done right?"

Jo sprung up and ran over to her. "Mrs. Garrett…" Jo cried as she embraced her.

"It's been a very trying time for all of us. Blair's a very strong girl. I know she's going to pull through this," Mrs. Garrett tried comforting her.

"We had an argument the morning of her accident. She was upset about me not visiting. We never got to fix it. What if we never get the chance to? How am I supposed to live with that?"

"You two have always had your little squabbles but in the end you've built a deeper friendship because of it. I'm sure whatever happened is just another one of those. Blair knows you love her, and you know she loves you. Whatever happens that will never change. You have to remember that," Mrs. Garrett advised.

"I know that if I can't resolve it I'll always feel guilt over it. Even if it was something we would have eventually moved past I will always feel bad about it," Jo assured her.

"Let's not think about that unless it happens okay?" Mrs. Garrett requested. "I just can't handle the thought of Blair dying. I'm the one who is supposed to die first. It will be too painful if I have to see any of you girls pass on before me."

Jo nodded. As a mother she understood. She had been a second mother to them throughout their life. If anything ever happened to Jamie she wouldn't be able to cope with it either.

"Where are you staying?" Mrs. Garrett asked.

"I'm getting a room at a motel for a few days," Jo answered.

"Nonsense! You're staying with me. You know you can stay with me anytime you're in town," Mrs. Garrett refused to let her waste her money at a gross motel.

"Mrs. Garrett I can afford the room. Everybody is under enough stress right now. Nobody needs me sleeping on their couch added on to that," Jo debated.

"You won't be stressing me out if you stay over! Stay one night, stay ten nights. I don't care. I'm just glad to see you again," Mrs. Garrett assured.

If her financial situation were better she would keep arguing it, but she had to cut costs whenever possible. She was already out a few hundred for the plane ticket and even more for the time she would be off work while she was in Peekskill. If sleeping over with Mrs. Garrett could save her a couple hundred bucks then so be it. "Alright you win."


	4. Chapter 4

The next afternoon during visiting hours Tad, Jo, Mrs. Garrett, Dorothy and Tisha all gathered in Blair's room. Jo held the remote flipping through channels, trying to find something all of them could agree on, which wasn't an easy task.

Natalie finally arrived at the hospital. She opened the door and noticed the large amount of people in the room. "Hopefully we will all be able to squeeze in here. I ran into a few familiar faces at the airport!"

Behind Natalie followed Rick and Jamie. "Surprise!" Jamie jumped out at them. Everyone walked over and greeted them with hugs, except Jo who looked livid.

"What are you guys doing here? I thought you had to stay home because of school," Mrs. Garrett asked.

"That was originally the plan, but this is practically a family emergency so I let the school know Jamie wouldn't be in for the rest of the week. I don't think a few days off from school will hurt," Rick answered.

"I need to talk to you in the hall," Jo angrily demanded. She couldn't believe he brought them out to Peekskill at a time like this after she had strictly ordered them to stay in California. They stepped out into the hall and moved far enough away to where none of their friends could hear them. "What are you thinking?! Do you _want_ Jamie to get held back?" Jo practically shouted.

"She was sad Jo. She was sitting by the phone constantly waiting to hear an update and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I asked her where she would rather be right now and she chose here in Peekskill," Rick explained.

"Of course she's going to say that! What kid her age wants to be in school? It's your job as her father to put your foot down and say no!" Jo argued.

"Blair is practically her aunt. It's not fair to her to not allow her to be here," Rick replied.

"If Jamie gets held back it's your fault! You are letting her get away with far too much this year," Jo could feel her face growing red.

"Fine if that happens I'll take the blame alright? Right now I have to figure out where Jamie and I are going to stay. Where are you sleeping at?" Rick asked.

"Ms. Garrett's. I already feel bad about staying there. Her place isn't that big so I don't want to inconvenience her anymore with our whole family. We can check into a motel," Jo answered.

"Alright whatever you want to do. I'm going to go to Frank's for a few hours. Call me with the details of where we're staying," Rick said.

"I knew it! You coming out here had nothing to do with Blair. You just used it as an excuse to come here and blow more of our money at your buddy Frank's stupid poker game!" Jo fumed. She wasn't surprised but she was already on the edge over Blair's condition and this was the absolute last thing she wanted to deal with at the moment.

"Are you kidding me? I came here for Blair! What _exactly_ am I supposed to do here Jo? Blair's not conscious and sitting here doing nothing isn't going to wake her up. I might as well go see Frank while I'm in town," Rick defended.

"Whatever Rick. If you have to go, just go. I'll call you when I know where we are staying." Without giving him a chance to respond Jo stormed away and went back into Blair's room. She tried hiding her anger the best she could but everybody could tell she was upset.

"Everything okay?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah. Listen I have to go find a motel for my family to sleep at. Would you guys mind watching Jamie for me until I get back?" Jo requested.

"You guys can stay in one of our rooms. Free of charge. Blair would insist," Tad offered.

"Only if it's not too much trouble," Jo accepted.

"Not at all. That invitation extends to all of you by the way," Tad mentioned.

"You don't have to ask me twice! That bed was so soft that I was unable to get comfortable enough to sleep once I left," Natalie gladly joined them.

"Thanks but I forgot to tell you all, we have already gotten the green light for a new place. We're staying at Jeff's parents' house for the time being so that way Tisha can spend time with her grandparents," Dorothy declined.

"Wow that was fast!" Natalie said.

Before Dorothy could respond everyone heard a soft mumbling noise coming from Blair's direction.

"Blair?" Ms. Garrett walked over and shook her. "Blair wake up!"

"Huh?" Blair practically whispered out.

"Oh my god she's waking up!" Dorothy exclaimed. A rush of relief came over everybody as she was regaining consciousness.

"Go get a doctor!" Ms. Garrett ordered.

"Blair honey it's me! I'm here," Tad stood over her and grabbed her hand.

Blair opened her eyes and noticed everyone standing over her. "What is everyone doing here? Where am I?"

"We were in a car accident. You were in a coma for the past few days," Tad answered.

"How do you feel?" Ms. Garrett asked.

"Kind of hungry," Blair replied.

"Well most of the food here is crap, but if you want to try to stomach it I can go and get you something," Jo offered.

Blair smiled at Jo's presence. She was happy to see her. "Right now I'd even eat one of them McBig Mac's if it were in front of me."

"There's no Mc on Big Mac Aunt Blair," Jamie corrected her.

As the doctor made his way into the room to check on Blair, Jo went down to the cafeteria to get her something to eat. After scrolling through all of the options she guessed a chicken sandwich and fries would probably be something Blair would eat. It looked the most edible anyway. She figured she should probably get a hold of Rick and let him know that they were sleeping at Blair's hotel, however her mood grew significantly happier after Blair had finally woken up. She was happy to finally be surrounded by all her friends again and she didn't want Rick to ruin that for her, so she decided to put off calling him until the last minute.

She made her way back into the room and sat the tray in front of her. "I took a wild guess on what you would want. I hope this is alright."

Blair didn't hold back and took a bite into her sandwich. It tasted flat but she was just glad to have something in her stomach. "It's fine. Thanks Jo. I'm glad you came out here."

"Yeah well I don't like to admit it when I'm wrong but I realized there was a lot of truth to what you said. We can talk about it later when we have some privacy," Jo said.

"Now that we are all here in the same room there is something I want to run by you guys. I know this sounds crazy, but I'm thinking about quitting my job and finding something local here in Peekskill," Natalie announced.

"Are you nuts?! Do you know how many people in your field would kill to have your job?" Dorothy disapproved.

"Yeah Nat. If you change your mind you'll probably never find another job as great as the one you currently have," Jo added.

"I know that I would be giving up a lot. When I was a teenager this was the job that I would have killed for, but I'm in my thirties now and I'm sick of all the traveling that comes with this job. You have no idea how many family events I have missed out on because of my job, and now that Harper and I are getting married I would like to settle down. I have a novel that I would like to write and get published, but I barely have time to sit down and get my thoughts together let alone write the darn thing. I think I'm just ready to move on to the next step of my life and in my vision of what that would be it involves me living here in Peekskill," Natalie explained.

Mrs. Garrett wasn't sure what to say. She knew more than anybody how important it is to take chances in life. From Eastland, to managing two shops, to going back to school late in life, to joining the Peace Corps she had taken several in her lifetime. However Natalie's current job paid too well for her to just throw away on a whim. "Have you talked about this with Harper yet?"

"No. It's really only been on my mind since the reunion. I thought maybe I was just caught up in all the excitement and once I got back to work I would get back into the groove of things, but I don't think that's the case. While I was in Pakistan I spent nearly the whole time wishing I could just focus on my novel," Natalie answered.

"My advice would be talk about this with Harper and see how he feels. Don't quit your job unless you are a thousand percent sure you won't have any regrets," Jo advised.

"If quitting will keep you in Peekskill for good then I say quit!" Tisha chimed in.

Natalie smiled at her excitement. "I can't imagine Harper being thrilled about me thinking about quitting my job, but when he gets home I will discuss it with him and see what he has to say."

Blair felt extremely uncomfortable; not because she was in pain, but because it had been days since her last shower. Never in her life had she gone more than one day without a shower before and she felt oily and gross. "I don't mean to be rude, but if you'll excuse me I need a shower stat!"

She made her way to the bathroom with a pair of lounging clothes that Tad had brought for her for when she woke up. She sat her clothes on the edge of the sink and glanced up at the mirror hanging above it, only to be caught off guard by a huge cut on her chin.

"No!" Blair cried out as she brushed her finger over it. The doctor had already put a number of stitches in. She thought she had felt a strange discomfort there, but she had bruises and cuts all over her body and none were really that serious. This one was completely different though. There was no way it was going to heal without leaving behind a noticeable scar. Why didn't anybody say anything about it? It was hideous! Blair tried not to get overemotional; after all she practically cheated death and she should be thanking her lucky stars to be alive. She couldn't help it though. Her looks were the number one thing she prided herself for and now that was damaged. She turned on the shower as she hopped in and cried over it.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day Blair was finally released from the hospital. After being thoroughly checked by doctors they couldn't find anything wrong that required any more hospitalization. She hid in her bedroom to avoid being seen most of the afternoon. Luckily Jo had taken her family out to visit some of her old favorite places in Peekskill, and Natalie joined Dorothy as they got Tisha enrolled at Eastland, so she had gotten away with it for a while. Eventually Jo and her family arrived back and her time for being alone was up.

Jo knocked on her bedroom door. "Blair are you in there? I stopped by the café we used to go to before our classes at Langley and grabbed you a donut. Custard filled your favorite!"

Blair walked over and opened the door. "After all this time you still remember my weakness."

"Well I needed to do something to get your mind off that cut. You've been out of it ever since you realized it was there. I was told that you wouldn't leave the hospital unless Tad brought a scarf to cover it with. That's a little nutty even for you," Jo said.

"It's not just a regular cut Jo. It's deep and if it were a couple inches higher I'd look like The Joker," Blair contended.

"Don't you remember the time that you feel asleep at the wheel and crashed into that tree, and you had that big gash on your forehead? That healed up just fine and now you can't even tell that you once had a cut there!" Jo tried to make her feel better.

"Yeah and you have no idea how much makeup it took to cover that thing. I have already tried covering this one with makeup. It's no use. You can still see it," Blair said.

"I know that you are upset about it. You wouldn't be the Blair Warner that I remember if you weren't, but you shouldn't hide from the world over it either. You have a great husband who hasn't even batted an eyelash at your scar, and a ton of friends who have banded together for you. And it's not every day that the group is all together in one city, so are you going to waste that by hiding over a scar that nobody but you is disgusted over?" Jo asked.

Blair realized she was right. She was still horrified over it, but if she wasted the time they did have together she would regret it. "I suppose you're right. Now please don't take this the wrong way. I'm not trying to start anything up again, but I have to know. I thought that there was no way you could possibly get out of work to come out here. What changed?"

Jo hesitated for a moment. It was a lot easier to admit everything when she knew she couldn't hear her, but Blair deserved the truth. "I got time off work because there was no trial. It was a lie made up at the last minute because I changed my mind about coming out here."

Blair looked shocked. "What? Why would you do that?"

Jo basically told her everything she admitted when she was in a coma. After hearing all of it Blair felt sad for her. She had no idea things were bad between her and Rick. She thought that they were the couple that would make it through anything since they had been together for over a decade now.

"Have you considered marriage counseling?" Blair suggested.

"I don't want a shrink poking around in my marriage. Rick's just not the same guy I fell in love with anymore. The guy I fell in love with showed his love with over the top gestures and wasn't the most mature, but did whatever it took to make sure we were all taken care off and loved. Everything was great for a while but things started going downhill once he got promoted and began working with big names. He has blown through thousands of dollars gambling it away and most nights if he hangs out with his buddies after work he comes home drunk. I've been very vocal with him about how much I hate what he's doing and he isn't making any effort to change anything. He doesn't see a problem with his behavior. I don't know what more I can do to keep holding on," Jo explained.

"If you remember Mrs. Garrett went through a very similar thing with her first marriage. I'm sure if you talked to her about it she would tell you to get out of the marriage. I would agree with her. It might be the wakeup call he needs to realize he's wrong and get his act together," Blair said.

"Jamie adores Rick though. When she was little she wouldn't go to bed unless he and only he read her a bedtime story. Rick is the fun parent while I'm the mean one for enforcing all the rules," Jo replied.

"Jamie is also in sixth grade. She's a big girl now," Blair pointed out. "The divorce will be painful for all three of you at first but time will heal the wound. I should know my parents were the experts at multiple divorces. It's better to separate than to stay in a marriage where you are resenting the person you married."

"Well as of right now I'm not sure there is going to be a divorce. It's something that I have to put a lot of thought into before I make any decisions," Jo said. She wanted to make sure that was clarified before she gave the other girls misinformation. "Anyway we should probably go find Jamie. I promised her that I would pull you out of here so she could kick your butt at Scrabble."

Blair laughed. "I'm guess I'm going to have to teach her that being older makes you wiser!"

* * *

Meanwhile at Eastland the headmaster was giving Natalie, Dorothy and Tisha a tour of the new and improved version of the school. So much had changed in the way they operated the school since when they were students. It was almost like it wasn't Eastland anymore. As they toured through the kitchen Natalie couldn't believe her eyes. "They have a dishwasher! Where was that when we had kitchen duty? Every time I go to turn on a sink now my fingers prune up before I even turn the faucet because they get nervous from the treatment they got at Eastland!"

"Mrs. Warner made the decision when she bought the place. The staff was dead set against it as it was a good punishing tool for the trouble makers but she wouldn't take no for an answer," the headmaster explained.

"These are the 2000's Aunt Nat. Everybody has a dish washer!" Tisha said.

Natalie shook her head. "Kids these days don't know how good they have it."

They continued on with the tour showing the girls the dorms and classrooms. As they entered the computer lab the male teacher approached them. He was about 5'10" with a thin build. He was Caucasian and had dark brown curly hair up to his neckline and had brown eyes with glasses. "Hello there. I'm Henry Keaton, the computers teacher here at Eastland. It's nice to meet you all." He reached his hand out and shook all of their hands.

"It's nice to meet you too! This is my daughter Tisha, the one who will be a student here. This here is my friend Natalie and I'm..."

"You're Dorothy Ramsey!" he interrupted. "I have seen the commercials for your show."

She should have known she would be recognized. "But you never watched it?"

"Well I would have but unfortunately it was on while I had to work," was Henry's excuse.

"I see. Well I guess the fact you're too busy doing your job to watch my show is one reason I should trust my daughter in your hands," Dorothy smiled.

"I'm sure you're going to love this class Tisha. Why don't you have a seat and explore the programs we have on our computers." He pulled up a chair and gave Tisha control of the computer.

"We didn't have computers either!" Natalie whined.

"Nat back in the eighties computers were super expensive," Dorothy said.

"I swear we grew up in the wrong decade," Natalie replied.

"Hey don't knock the eighties. These kids today might have the best technology but we had the best music. Could you imagine growing up to Baby Got Back over Thriller?" Henry asked.

"The man has made a good point," Natalie agreed.

The three of them sat around and casually chatted until Tisha was done playing around with the computer. Once she was done they were ready to move onto the next classroom. Henry walked them out into the hallway.

"I hope since your daughter is in my class that means you will be popping in every now and then," Henry said.

Dorothy knew he would be a fun teacher for Tisha. "Well parent/teacher conferences happen eventually don't they?"

"Yes our next ones are in February I believe," Henry answered.

"Alright well then we will probably be meeting again," Dorothy said.

"I look forward to it," Henry replied.


	6. Chapter 6

Later that evening Mrs. Garrett invited Jo, Blair, Natalie, Dorothy and their families to have dinner at her place. The girls decided they weren't going to bring their families this time so that way the five of them could spend time together by themselves. Mrs. Garrett was the queen of creating huge meals at the last minute, but regardless none of the girls felt right showing up empty handed. Blair brought a three-hundred dollar bottle of wine, while the other girls pitched in and bought a big chocolate cake for dessert from a bakery. After all the stress they had been under recently they were going to do everything in their power to make it a great evening.

Blair, Jo and Natalie all carpooled together. Dorothy was already inside waiting on their arrival. Natalie rang the doorbell and Dorothy walked over and let them in.

"Hey guys come on in. Mrs. Garrett's in the kitchen," Dorothy greeted.

"Sure smells like it! If my senses are correct she's cooking a honey glazed ham," Natalie guessed.

"And potatoes, corn bread and green beans." Dorothy added.

"Sounds great. Did you pick up the cake?" Jo asked.

"Yep it's in the kitchen," Dorothy answered.

Blair pulled the bottle of wine out from a brown bag. "Voilà! I was saving this baby for a special occasion. I was thinking more the ten year anniversary of the Little Inn, but I guess this will do."

Jo was uncomfortable with the idea of her drinking so soon. "Blair you just got out of the hospital for a major head injury. Alcohol is the last thing you should be drinking right now."

Blair didn't care. She wanted fun and she wanted to go all out and celebrate. "Relax my doctor confirmed that I'm back to normal."

Jo looked at Natalie and Dorothy for reinforcements but neither of them spoke up. She didn't understand why nobody else was concerned. Maybe she was worrying too much, but she was going to keep an eye on how much Blair consumed and make sure she didn't overdo it.

Mrs. Garrett came out of the kitchen and saw that Jo, Blair and Natalie had arrived. She walked over and gave each of them a hug. "Girls! I'm so glad you all could make it. I'm sorry your families couldn't make it though."

"We wanted at least one night where it was just the five of us before Jo has to head back to California. The kids were disappointed that they were excluded but they'll have to live with it," Dorothy explained.

"When do you have to leave?" Mrs. Garrett asked.

"In two days. I'm expected to be back at work Monday so I have to be on the plane out Friday night," Jo answered.

"Just know if you ever disappear from Peekskill for a really long time again we will fly to California and drag you back ourselves," Mrs. Garrett said.

Jo laughed. She was dreading having to leave so soon. Being back in the environment of her friends reminded her where her true home was. If it were just her she would consider moving back, but Rick loved his job too much, and California was what Jamie knew as home for a majority of her life. It sucked but she would probably never be able to live in Peekskill again. "You won't have to. I'll make sure we come back out here sometime within the next year."

Dorothy changed the subject. "So my baby is now officially an Eastland girl as of today!"

Blair grinned. "That's awesome! Is she excited?"

"I haven't seen her this excited since she got her very first cell phone. With Tisha at Eastland and me getting back into theater I have a good feeling this is the change we both need in our lives. I tried convincing her to try to move into the dorms to get the full experience, but she doesn't want to until she gets to know the other kids better," Tootie answered.

"She's still really young. You were about her age when you started Eastland but most of the girls are older. I'm sure that must be intimidating for her. So what's going on with you and Robert? I could have sworn I saw some flirtation between you two at the reunion," Blair wondered.

Dorothy quickly shot down the idea. "Absolutely nothing. We're just friends who work together. I'm not looking to date right now. Especially my best friends recent ex-boyfriend."

"If you like Robert don't let me stop you from seeing him. All I want is for everybody to be happy. Ever since I picked Harper I have realized Robert and I never would have had a long-term future together. It just wasn't meant to be. If you and Robert do then you have my blessings," Natalie assured her.

"Nat I'm just not ready to date period. Even if I were it wouldn't be with one of your ex-boyfriends. I care about our friendship too much to risk it for a guy," Dorothy explained.

Natalie didn't want to be pushy; although she was concerned she hadn't really dated anybody since Jeff had died. Ideally she wouldn't want to see Robert dating one of her friends, but at this point she just wanted her to date _anybody_. If Robert had to be that person then so be it.

A few minutes later Mrs. Garrett brought out the dinner and they ate. Blair poured everybody glasses of wine as they relaxed and chatted. Once everybody was done Mrs. Garrett insisted on being the one to clean up and the girls went to sit on her living room couch.

"I probably shouldn't say anything but I noticed Mrs. Garrett has a liquor cabinet. A _full_ liquor cabinet," Dorothy lowered her voice so Mrs. Garrett wouldn't hear her.

"I noticed that too. What is she doing with that much alcohol? She doesn't drink. At least I don't think," Jo wondered.

"Maybe she started in the Peace Corps? Maybe being away from us made her want to drink," Natalie guessed.

"Do they let you do that there?" Blair questioned.

After she finished up Mrs. Garrett walked in the living room. She had overheard their conversation and got a chuckle out of it. She noticed all of the girls were eyeing it when they were eating. "It was a gift one of Bruce's friends gave to him. He passed on before he ever had a chance to use it."

"Oh," they all said in unison.

"I have a lot of mementos to remember Bruce by, and I'll never use any of the stuff in that cabinet. I really shouldn't encourage this, but you girls are past old enough to make your own decisions. If you want to help yourselves to it go ahead," Mrs. Garrett offered. She wouldn't have if they were driving, but she knew they would all get home safely by Blair's chauffeur.

"We can't. This was Bruce's. I know how hard it is to part with your loved ones things. I still have a hard time letting go of Jeff's," Dorothy rejected.

"I loved Bruce very much, but I can't keep every single thing of his. I have so much of his stuff tucked away already, the things that were most important to him. He had no attachment to this cabinet or the stuff inside it." Mrs. Garrett walked over to it and unlocked it. "It's your choice. Otherwise it's just going to sit there untouched for who knows how long."

Natalie's face lit up. "If you insist!" She couldn't believe Mrs. Garrett was actually offering them alcohol willingly.

Everybody except Mrs. Garrett filled their glass with some Vodka as they sat around and played Monopoly. Natalie was cracking everybody up at the sound effects she made as she moved her car token across the board. Everybody was having a great time until Jo grew more worried about the amount Blair was drinking. Jo decided she wasn't going to let her drink anymore and took her glass away from her.

"What do you think you're doing? Give me back my glass!" Blair demanded.

"You've had enough. I'm not going to let you get wasted," Jo argued.

"Why are you being such a buzzkill tonight?!" Blair unintentionally shouted. She didn't realize she was talking as loud as she was.

"Because I'm worried about you! We almost lost you once. I'm sorry if I'm being a buzzkill but I don't want you to end up back in the hospital," Jo explained.

There was no way Dorothy was going to allow any drama to happen tonight. "Just stop arguing! Jo's right. You've had enough. In fact I think we've all had enough so lets just put the bottle away okay?"

"Fine. It's not worth getting upset about. I'm going to go use the restroom and then we can resume the game. I'll be right back." Blair went into the bathroom and stared into the mirror. She was fed up with the impact the accident has had on her life. She was sick of being disgusted whenever she looked at herself, and she was sick of all the worry it has caused everybody else. She decided she was going to take control and look into finding the best plastic surgeon in town so she could get rid of the scar and move on from it.


	7. Chapter 7

Blair woke up the next morning feeling happier. After the brief little argument with Jo, nobody else brought it up again and it turned out to be a great night. She went downstairs for some coffee and then came back up to her room and turned on her laptop. She did a search for plastic surgeons in New York and read some reviews other people had left. She wasn't sure where to start her search, but if she went through with it she was only going to allow the best of the best to work on her.

Jo let herself into her room. Her hair was messy and she had some unwashed eyeliner smeared around her eyes from the previous night. She had just woken up about an hour ago and hadn't cleaned herself up yet.

Blair looked over at her and saw that she looked like hell. "You walked through the Inn looking like that? You're really brave."

"You've seen me like this a thousand times before and I'm not looking to impress any of your guests," Jo said. "Besides I haven't had any alcohol in ages and now my head hurts. I'm waiting until this aspirin kicks in before I get in the shower."

"Well that's a shame since I hear Mrs. Garrett's son Raymond is single and looking," Blair teased.

Jo picked up one of the pillows on her bed and threw it at her playfully. She took a seat beside her and glanced at her computer screen. "Plastic surgery?"

"I'm considering it to remove the scar from my chin," Blair explained.

"Aren't you and Tad trying to get pregnant? The coma, plastic surgery and pregnancy is a little much for your body to go through in the span of a year don't you think?"

"Yeah I've thought about that a little bit. Both Tad and I really want to start having kids soon. I'm not pregnant yet though, so it's not too late to reconsider. We could always explore the adoption process, and then I can go through a pregnancy with a second one later on," Blair replied.

"How does Tad feel about all of this?" Jo asked.

"We haven't talked about it yet," Blair answered. "I don't see why he wouldn't be on board though. His shoulder has been bothering him a lot. He is going to his doctor today and they're going to schedule a date for his surgery, so I don't think he will be able to have sex until that is healed."

Jo nodded. "It sounds like the accident really threw your plans off track. Whatever you two decide to do I'm sure both you and Tad will be really great parents."

Blair smiled at the compliment. "Thanks. That means a lot. I'm excited but I'm also really nervous at the same time. I have no experience with kids. What if I can't handle it?"

Jo understood her fears. "Believe me I was terrified when I found out I was pregnant with Jamie. I was still adjusting from living with you guys to married life with Rick and it couldn't have been a worse time. I wasn't sure I had it in me to change diapers, or deal with the crying, or never sleep. Once she was born though I had no idea it was possible to love someone so much. I can't imagine _not_ being a mother. You'll feel the exact same way."

"I know. I already love this kid and I have no idea who it is or where it's coming from yet," Blair said.

Natalie entered the room all cleaned up and energized. "Jamie told me I'd find you here. Get ready. We're going to go see Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter? Isn't that for kids?" Blair asked.

"No it's not _just_ for kids!" Natalie answered. "I've been dying to see this movie ever since I heard they were making it. The books were incredible! And it's perfect because the kids are in school right now so the theatre won't be packed."

"I have never read the books. I don't know the first thing about the series except that it's something my daughter likes," Jo said.

"The beauty of it is you don't need to have read the books. The movie will explain it all. Now chop, chop!" Natalie clapped her hands to get them excited.

"Eh what the hell. Maybe it'll be fun," Jo gave in.

"Fine we can go watch this children's movie, and then afterwards we'll have a nice lunch at the French restaurant down the street from the theatre," Blair said.

* * *

Meanwhile Dorothy and Robert sat together at a coffee shop as they looked over the paperwork that needed to be filled out to get them one step closer to getting the Peekskill Playhouse reopened. She was ecstatic that they were actually going through with this. She had a ton of ideas forming in her head that she wanted to execute and she was impatient to get started.

"How long do you think it will take for us to get the ownership and be able to start fixing stuff up?" Dorothy asked.

"I don't have a solid answer for you. We could be the owners at the beginning of next year, or it could be a while. It all depends on the response we get once we hand in these forms," Robert answered.

Dorothy looked down at the forms. "I guess we better get these babies filled out then."

The two of them sipped on their coffee and focused on the forms until Dorothy was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. She didn't recognize the number that was calling but she picked it up anyway.

"Hello?" Dorothy picked up.

"Hello is this Dorothy Ramsey, Tisha Williams's mother?" the headmaster asked.

"Yes this is," Dorothy answered. "I'm assuming this is Eastland?"

"I'm afraid Tisha got into an altercation with a girl in her computers class. We're going to need you to come down here so we can discuss it," the headmaster requested.

Dorothy threw her pen down on the table and it bounced up and fell to the ground. Eastland was supposed to be a happy start. This was the last thing they needed right now. "Alright I'll be there in ten." Dorothy picked up her near empty coffee container and put it in the trash can beside them. "I'm sorry I have to go. That was Tisha's school. Bad first day."

Dorothy stormed through Eastlands hallways where she saw Tisha sitting outside the headmaster's office. Tisha could see the anger on her face from a mile away. "What were you thinking?! Getting into a fight on your first day?"

"Mom you don't understand. This girl was being horrible to me just because I'm a little younger than her. I didn't want to fight, but I had to show her I'm not someone she can pick on and get away with it. I made that mistake at my old school," Tisha explained.

"I don't care what she said! You use your words, not your fists! You're grounded for two weeks. Give me your phone," Dorothy ordered. Tisha knew better than to argue and handed it over.

They walked into the headmasters office where they were read the riot act, no more fighting or she would be expelled. Dorothy didn't understand why the headmaster couldn't have told her all of this over the phone if there was no punishment. She felt like he was just wasting her time. It was finally over and Tisha was given the okay to go to her next class. Dorothy decided she was going to just head home and work on the paperwork.

"We'll talk more about this when you get home," Dorothy assured her.

As she walked towards the exit door Mr. Keaton the computers teacher stopped her. "Dorothy!" She turned around and acknowledged him. "I'm so sorry. I meant to be at the meeting but one of the other kids kept me busy."

"It's no problem. I just wish it could have been dealt with over the phone. I was pulled away from some very important work," Dorothy said truthfully.

"I understand. You seem to be pretty stressed out," Mr. Keaton commented.

"I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my plate. To sum it up shortly I quit my talk show so I could get back into theatre. Not as simple as it sounds," Dorothy explained.

"I'm sorry for having to pull you away from it for the Tisha and Danielle incident," Mr. Keaton apologized. "I'm happy I got to see you again though."

Dorothy smiled. "Well thanks. It's nice seeing you too. I have a busy day ahead of me so I'm going to leave now."

As she turned away he stopped her one last time. "Wait. Do you like dinner? I was thinking we could have dinner together sometime."

Dorothy was taken aback by his question. From what little she knew about him he seemed like a nice enough man, but she just wasn't interested. "I do but I'm going to have to decline. I'm sorry. I think it would be too awkward for my daughter."

Mr. Keaton was disappointed but he understood. "Okay well have a good day and good luck with your theatre career."

"Thanks," Dorothy said softly as she exited the building.


	8. Chapter 8

Jo and Blair returned with their hands full of Blair's shopping bags. After the movie Blair wanted Jo and Natalie to go shopping with her, which they reluctantly ended up doing.

"Only with you could a simple trip to the movies turn into a shopping spree," Jo said.

"Blame Natalie. If it wasn't for her I never would have felt the need to go buy all the Harry Potter books. Where has this series been all my life?" Blair held one of the books and admired the cover.

"I don't understand why you bought the book for the movie we just watched. The movie came straight from it," Jo commented.

"Natalie said I needed to read it to get the stuff that wasn't seen in the movie. Besides when I put them on display for decoration it'll just look tacky not to have all of them," Blair explained.

"Sounds like a waste of money to me," Jo said.

Tad walked in and wrapped his arms around Blair's waist. He noticed she had books and felt the need to tease her about it. "I don't think I have ever seen you pick up a book. The world must be ending."

"Ha ha," Blair replied. "So how did the doctor's appointment go?"

"I'm going under the knife at 7:00 Wednesday morning," Tad answered. "Everything should be back to normal in a couple weeks."

Blair figured now would be a good time to tell him what has been on her mind. "Speaking of that there is something I want to talk to you about. I've been looking into surgery to fix my face."

Tad took a seat beside her. "I'm not a factor in this am I? Because if this has anything to do with me, I think that you have the most beautiful face in the world, and I wouldn't want you to change a thing about it."

Blair smiled. "There are lots of factors but I want to do this for myself."

Tad nodded. "If this is something you want to do for yourself then who am I to stop you? If this will make you happy then I'm happy too."

"There's more. I still want kids. Whether we have one or ten I still want to make our family complete. However we've both been through a lot physically and it's only going to get worse for me once I find the person who I want to operate on me," Blair said.

Tad interrupted. "So are you saying you want to wait to have a kid?"

"I'm saying that I want to open up discussion for adoption. There are tons of kids out there that need a good stable loving family and we can make that a reality for one of them," Blair suggested.

Tad looked seriously at her. "Blair I would love to adopt eventually, but I really want our first kid to be one we created ourselves with our looks, our genes, our own name for it. We're in our thirties and we should try to have our own now. We're not getting any younger."

Blair wasn't happy with his response. She had hoped he would be fine with adoption. "Exactly. We're not getting any younger which is why I want to adopt now. I can't do the surgery and get pregnant at the same time."

"Why can't the surgery wait then?" Tad wondered.

"I don't want to walk around with this thing on my face for a year!" Blair raised her voice. "Now we can adopt now and have our own later, or we can just wait, but I'm not getting pregnant until this is gone and I'm fully ready!"

"Well I'm glad you are taking my feelings into consideration," he said sarcastically and walked out of the room.

Jo had stood their silently and listened to the whole thing. She waited until Tad left the room to make a comment. "I see he didn't take that well."

Blair was visibly frustrated. "I can't believe him!"

"I think he's worried that if you don't start now then a pregnancy might not happen for you guys," Jo explained.

"Are you on his side or something?" Blair asked.

"Of course not but you're thirty-six years old. It's a valid concern to have at this point," Jo answered.

"Plenty of women have kids in their forties," Blair argued. "My mom got pregnant with Bailey when she was forty-two. Who's to say I won't be able to get pregnant if I don't do it now?"

"Blair no one is saying you won't get pregnant. It's just that not everyone gets pregnant as easily as your mom and I did, and the older you get the harder it might be. I'd suggest maybe talking to a fertility specialist and see what they think about your situation. Maybe if the specialist confirms that you'll be able to have a child later then Tad will be more open to what you want," Jo advised.

Blair raised her eyebrows as she thought about it. "I guess that's not a terrible idea. In fact I think it might even be good enough to work."

* * *

Natalie was in her room as she sat on her bed with her laptop on her lap. She had a word document open as she was plotting ideas for the beginning, middle and end of her first story in ages. However she didn't know if she should bother. Harper was going to be back in two days and she was nervous about what his response would be to her wanting to quit her job and settle down in one spot. If he was against it she would most likely forget the whole thing and stay with the stable life she has now. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin things now that she and Harper were in a great place. She continued to type away anyway until her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" Natalie answered.

"Hey Nat it's me," Dorothy greeted. "What are you doing?"

"I just got back from hanging out with Blair and Jo. Now I'm in my room focusing on my story. What are you doing?" Natalie asked.

"I just got home. Robert and I were meeting up to go over some stuff, and then I got pulled away because Tisha got in trouble at school," Dorothy answered.

"Wow on her first day," Natalie was surprised. "Are you sure she's not Jo's daughter?"

"It gets better! Tisha's teacher stopped me in the hall and asked me to go to dinner with him," Dorothy said.

Natalie squealed. "That's great! When is the date?"

"There is no date. I told him no," Dorothy answered.

Natalie was disappointed. "What? You could be missing out on a great guy and you don't even know it!"

"He's my daughter's teacher. How do you think that will make Tisha feel?"

"I'm sure she'll hate it at first, but then she'll see her mom happy again and she'll forget all about the teacher aspect," Natalie hoped.

"Her mom _is_ happy. I'm getting my dream back. I don't need a man to be happy," Dorothy said annoyed.

"I'm just saying. That man was eyeing you the entire time we were there. He was obviously interested," Natalie tried convincing her.

"I'm sure my talk show had _nothing_ to do with that," Dorothy said sarcastically.

"It may have helped a tad," Natalie admitted. "No one is saying you have to marry the man though. How much can one little dinner date hurt?"

"If I have one dinner with this man will it get you off my back?" Dorothy asked.

"That's all I want," Natalie smiled.

"Fine. I'll call him and see if it's not too late to change my mind. My daughter does not find about this ever, got it?" Dorothy demanded.

"My lips are sealed," Natalie said.

Dorothy didn't know his personal number so she called Eastland and left a message for him. Part of her hoped that he wouldn't call her back because she didn't want to go out with him if she didn't have to. She was mainly doing it so Natalie would quit worrying about her. She went and joined Tisha's grandmother Tanya who was watching television. She was grateful that after losing Jeff she was still able to maintain a relationship with his side of the family. They enjoyed each other's company for about a half hour before he called her back.

"Hello?" Dorothy answered.

"Hi. I had a message in my mailbox saying you called. Is that true?" he asked.

"Yes it is. I was thinking about what you asked me and I think one dinner might be nice. If it's not too late to change my mind I would like to have to dinner with you," Dorothy said.

"No it's not too late. How is Saturday night around eight o'clock?" he asked.

"That would be great. How about I meet you at the restaurant? Which restaurant was it again?" Dorothy wondered.

"Hmm," he paused and took a few seconds to think. "Do you like Asian food? There is a wonderful buffet down the street from Langley College."

"I know what place you're talking about," Dorothy replied. "Yes Asian food sounds good. I will be there at eight on Saturday."

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Tanya couldn't help but overhear the conversation.

"Who are you having dinner with?" Tanya asked.

Dorothy didn't want to go into too much detail because she didn't want take a chance on Tisha finding out the truth and getting upset over nothing. "Just some guy I met the other day. I don't really want to but my friend Natalie is really pushy sometimes. It's just a one-time thing."

Tanya was happy to hear that. "That's great! I'm with your friend Natalie. This might be the push you need to get back into dating again."

Dorothy forced a smile. She hadn't been on a date in over a decade and the idea of going out on random dates wasn't as exciting to her as it was to everybody else. "Can we keep this on the down low for now? I think it's best that when I start really dating again, if I ever do, that I'm the one who talks to her about it."

"Oh of course dear," Tanya answered. "The news is yours to tell so she won't hear a word about it from me."

"Thanks," Dorothy replied.


	9. Chapter 9

Jo, Rick and Jamie arrived back in California early Saturday morning. Everybody had a tough time saying goodbye, especially Jo. It felt like the days flew by and she wasn't ready to go back to work. That evening Rick went out while Jo and Jamie were exhausted from the lack of sleep on the plane ride and fell asleep by seven o'clock. Eventually Jamie was awoken by the need to use the restroom. After she got done using it she glanced out her bedroom window and was startled by a man lurking around their yard. She peeked out her window trying the best she could to avoid being seen to see what he was doing. As he walked where she could see directly she noticed he had a gun on him and didn't hesitate to go wake Jo up.

"Mom, mom wake up!" Jamie nearly shouted as she shook her mother.

Jo woke up startled. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I looked out my window and there is a man in our yard. He has a gun. I saw it clear as day. I'm not kidding," Jamie panicked.

Jo had no idea why someone was on their property but she could tell by how frightened she was that Jamie was serious. "I know you're not. I want you to go hide in my closet just in case and stay in there until I tell you it is okay to come out. Do you understand?"

Jamie nodded and squeezed herself into the closet. Jo thought it was probably something she could handle on her own, but since her daughters safety was at risk she didn't want to take any chances and called for backup. She then grabbed her handcuffs, badge and her gun and went to search for the guy Jamie said she saw. She walked out into the front yard slowly with her gun in the air. She stopped for a second to listen and she could hear him moving around on the other side of the house.

"I'm a police officer! Drop the gun and get down on the ground!" Jo shouted as she pointed her gun at him. He looked at her and smirked like he didn't think she was serious, ignoring her directions. "I'm not going to tell you again! Drop the gun and get down on the ground!" The second time he followed her orders. She then put him in handcuffs as she waited for the backup officer. "What are you doing in my yard and with a gun?"

"I wasn't here to bother you. I was looking for Rick Bonner. I was told he lives here," the guy admitted.

Suddenly it all made sense. "So what's with the gun? You're upset with him and you think it is okay to hurt him? He has a family you know."

"I don't care what he has. I only care about the thirty grand the idiot owes me," he said arrogantly.

"Well too bad because you're not getting a penny of it. Next time use your brain before you mess with someone who's married to a police officer," Jo snapped at him.

Once the backup officer arrived he was shipped off to jail. Jo went back upstairs to her room and got Jamie out of the closet. She took her back to her room and assured her everything was going to be okay. Once she finally got Jamie calm enough to fall back asleep she went into the living room and sat on the couch waiting for Rick to get back home. She was far too infuriated with him to even think about trying to sleep.

* * *

Meanwhile in New York, Dorothy was on her date with Henry. It was going decently. He was very interested in the career aspect of her life and had tons of questions about it. None of them were too personal so she gladly answered them, but she barely got a chance to ask him anything about himself. She decided it was time to get the spotlight off of her and learn something new about him. "So enough about my career. What about you? How do you like your job at Eastland?"

"I'll admit that when I took the job I was a little hesitant because I went to public schools and I knew nothing about private schools, but I actually like it a lot. All the kids seem to know each other on a more personal level from living together and it's kind of like a family. It's nothing at all like my high school experience," Henry answered.

"Aint that the truth. Me and a few of my friends got into trouble for stealing the school van and going to the Chug-A-Lug. Once we were there someone drove into the van and it was damaged. We were so close to being expelled, but our school dietician who we are very close to Mrs. Garrett stepped up and saved our butts. The four of us had to live in the room next to her and work to pay off the damages. Well after that we grew so close that we went on to live with each other for a few years after Eastland and are still very close today," Dorothy said.

"Wow I bet it's nice to have friends like that. I did the whole dorm room experience thing in college but I couldn't stand the person I was assigned to room with. Let's just say the guy 'enjoyed' himself a whole lot and whenever he did he would lock me out of the room. Once finals were over I bolted out and never saw him again," Henry shared.

Dorothy laughed. "I'm glad I never had to deal with anything like that. I'm hoping Tisha will get a chance to have one similar to mine. By the way in case I haven't said it already I really am sorry for how she behaved on her first day. That behavior isn't like her at all. She's a really good kid."

"Oh don't be. Teens will be teens. Not that I encourage bad behavior but we probably wouldn't be here tonight if it didn't happen," Henry said.

"That's true. What led you to ask me out though? I mean we have only seen each other twice before tonight," Dorothy wondered.

"I find you attractive. I probably wouldn't have asked you out based on that alone but I don't know, something inside me just kept screaming that you were someone I needed to try to get to know. I hope I didn't come off as a weirdo," Henry chuckled nervously.

Dorothy smiled. "No you didn't. It's just that I don't want to give you false hope that something will blossom from our dinner tonight. I haven't been out on many dates since my husband died. Then there's the fact that you teach my daughter which makes it even more complicated. I do think you are a nice guy so far though."

"I'll take what I can get I guess. If tonight is it then at least we had a good time. Or at least I'm having a good time," Henry said.

"I am too," Dorothy said. She was relieved now that the pressure of him expecting more was off her shoulders and it made her more relaxed.

* * *

Around midnight Rick finally came home. Jo had plenty of time to think it over and rehearse what she was going to say in her head, so the second he walked in the door she was ready to go off like a firecracker. She rushed over to him and he was clueless to the angry expression she was wearing on her face.

"Hey honey," Rick smiled at his wife as he hung his coat up on the coat rack.

Jo didn't waste any time letting Rick have it. "What is wrong with you Rick? A man showed up in our yard today with a gun saying you owe him THIRTY GRAND! How can you possibly owe someone that much money?"

The smile wiped right off his face. "Jo I can explain. I'll admit I got carried away and in over my head. I have borrowed some cash and lost money more times than I've won it, but I'm going to figure this out and I promise my gambling days are over," Rick tried to assure her.

"I can't do this anymore Rick! I'm sick of it. You say you'll quit gambling whenever I get mad about it but within a week your right back at it again! Now look where you are at! Who knows what would have happened if I wasn't here? Our family was in real danger tonight and there is no way I'm keeping Jamie in this environment," Jo flat out told him.

"So what? You're leaving me? Jo please," Rick pleaded.

Jo got teary-eyed. "I have fought tooth and nail to make our relationship work but you're not even trying. I would give _anything_ for things to go back to how they used to be but apparently that isn't going to happen. I'm going to file for a divorce sometime this week."

Rick was on the verge of tears as well. "I've tried so hard to quit Jo. No matter how hard I try I keep getting pulled back in. I know that I've been really stupid lately and I really don't want to be this person. Please don't give up on me."

"After tonight I can't stay with you Rick," Jo wiped tears from her eyes. "You need to do whatever it takes to get it together. If it takes you finding professional help then so be it. If you don't do it for me then do it for your daughter. She was scared to death tonight when she saw that man with the gun. She's probably going to remember that for the rest of her life. What if the next time you piss somebody off to the point where they want to hurt you you're not as lucky as you were tonight? Imagine how she'll feel once she's fatherless! She doesn't deserve this crap and neither do I."

Rick ran his fingers through his hair and looked to the ground feeling ashamed of himself. "You're right you guys don't deserve this. I'm going to go sit in the kitchen and think for a while okay? I'll sleep on the couch tonight."

Jo didn't say anything in response. She was devastated that it got to this point. She took a seat on her couch and placed her hands in her hands and cried for a little bit. She grabbed her phone wanting to talk to any of her friends about it but then she realized how late it was. It was midnight in California meaning it was three in the morning in New York. She knew for a fact Mrs. Garrett wouldn't be awake and she doubted Blair, Natalie or Dorothy would be either so she dragged herself upstairs and went to bed.


End file.
